[steven]

The link that MMM posted looks good to me. I think that's what I would try if I were to "rip" some cassette tapes.

I just want to point out a few things though--

The audio quality will probably degrade a little bit, but it shouldn't be too noticable.

Also, before you even start, I would check your RCA cables with a TV & VCR or something. Although I hadn't had too many problems with them in the past, over the last few months I've had numerous RCA cables go bad on me (like sound going in and out or sound dropping when the jack gets turned just slightly).

One last thing (this might be over complicating things, but this could lead to some problems)-- I'm not familiar with Audacity or IPODS... but there could possibly be an issue with sample rates and bit depths. Sample rates are the amount of samples taken per second and bit depths are the size of the samples taken. Regular CDs have 16bit samples that are taken 44,100 times per second (44.1k). Computers take "digital" samples of "analog" sound when they record. Sometimes with recording software you might get default sample rates and bit depths that are higher-- a popular one is 24bit/48k (which is what DVDs are if I am remembering right). At any rate, there will probably be an option when you "mixdown" (save) your file to mp3 format to decide your bit depth and sample rate. I'm assuming you should save at 16/44.1, which is the safest bet.

There is a slight chance that you might record in Audacity at a higher sample rate than that... which means when you "mixdown" (save) your file to 44.1/16 you might be doing a conversion from another sample rate/bit depth (like 48khz/24bit) which will cause slght degredation. I doubt this is something to be worried about though as this difference won't be noticable on your ipod and its headphones anyways.